A great race with a great result
That was quite a race! I am very happy to have participated, proud to have completed it, and overjoyed with the results: the 1st place in TCF3 class (among 26 registered boats) 🤩🤩
Competing this solo, long-distance (80 nautical miles) regatta is a very demanding challenge. It was especially tricky this year, in conditions we had on Saturday - major weather front passing (temperatures dropped by 15 degrees within a day or so), with showers and heavy rains, medium to strong wind from changing directions and two storms (one at noon, one at midnight).
We had a nice SW breeze from the start, so everyone hoisted spinnakers directly at the start. I started from the port end of the starting line, gybed right away to port tack towards Vengeron and Versoix to have more space and fresh air, and kept closer to Swiss coast most of the Petit Lac. Within just two hours, most of the fleet has passed Yvoire and entered the Grand Lac. I then went closer to the French coast.
By the time I was passing Thonon, a storm developed and hit the fleet. I tried to be cautious, and I was already dropping my spinnaker, but just a moment too late - when very strong gusts and the rain arrived, the spi was still out, which resulted in a massive broach. The boat was nearly capsized for a few minutes, the cockpit was quite vertical, and I had to hold to a stanchion which suddenly appeared above my head (I also had my harness on, and connected to the central lifeline). A safety boat appeared nearby, to make sure I recover, which was reassuring. After easing the main sheets, the vang, the barber-hauler (which was under water), and releasing a few meters of the spi halyard, I tried to pull the spi sheet with a winch, but it was still very hard. Finally, I decided to completely let go the tackline, which helped and allowed me to collect most of the spi. In the meantime, the boat tacked which in fact helped too - some of the spi was in the water, but a big part was already collected, and the rest was leaning against the bow and the mainsail. As the strong gusts were also mostly over, I managed to clean up the situation quickly, get back on the racing course, and actually prepare the tackline and the spi for another hoist. The spi was intact (!), but I later realised that the wind indicator (windex) at the top of the mast got damaged. There were other boats broaching nearby, and I also saw - later on - a bigger boat with a broken carbon mast. This broach and the recovery costed me 15 minutes of racing, and was a good reminder of the obvious: that keeping the spi too long doesn't necessarily pay off!
The rain was on and off but the sky cleared a bit towards the end of the afternoon, which allowed me to dry my clothes and enjoy some beautiful views of the mountains surrounding the lake. I was sailing closer to the French coast, initially very fast under the spinnaker with speeds over 12 knots. Later on, I unfortunately got stuck for half an hour in a no-wind zone. Seeing boats slowly moving on the Swiss side was very frustrating - should I have chosen that side, too? Finally, the wind picked up again, I continued sailing under the spinnaker, and I rounded the Vieux Rhone buoy just before 5pm. Half of the race completed in still in daylight!
The way back was a bit more laborious, upwind in rather low winds. Again a hard choice: should I stay in the middle of the lake where wind shifts and the VMG are more favourable, or should I go close to the Swiss coast where some boats decided to head. I decided the former, then regretted a bit, but overall it may have been a good call. The wind was quite weak most of the return on the Grand Lac, but I somehow managed to find patches of better wind and sail efficiently towards the sunset over the Jura. When the night came, the wind gradually picked up, another storm came from the west with lightnings over the Jura. I went for the direct route towards Yvoire, which I passed precisely at midnight - it seemed 12 clock bells greeted my return to Petit Lac. Wind strength increased even more, and from an unusual SE direction. By the time I reached Nernier, I was on a close-reach port-tack course. Strong wind came from the nearby French shore, so there were no waves, and the boat cruised so smoothly at 6-7 knots. It was a truly amazing ride straight towards the finishing line, overtaking some boats on the Swiss side and in the middle of the lake. However, there was also heavy rain - I felt wet, cold and actually very sleepy. With no wind indicator at the top of the mast, wet telltales, and limited visibility, I was more guessing and feeling than seeing the exact wind direction and the correct sail trim. I pushed the boat to go as fast as possible on this last spring towards the finishing line in Geneva - and finally crossed it at 2:43 am. Race completed!
That was not over, though. After the finishing line, there were many boats going in all directions, putting down their sails, under the command(?) of very tired skippers. With still strong winds, dark water and blinding city lights around, this was likely the most risky moment of the race - I am actually surprised there were no collisions! I hesitated about coming back to Versoix, but after 18 hours on the water was tired, and decided to seek shelter directly into SNG's Port Noir. My sister picked me up (thanks!), and eventually at 5am I was back home. That was a long day...
In a long race with compensated time, and finishing at night (so not seeing when other boats finish), it's impossible to know how well I did. I honestly assumed I'm in the middle or perhaps one-third of my class (TCF3). There were still no results online when I checked on Sunday morning, and only sometime later a friend sent me the freshly published results, and congratulations. I was so happy to see that Jedi was ranked 2nd in TCF3 class! An even better surprise came at the prize-giving ceremony in the afternoon - it turned out that the first boat was wrongly classified (in fact, it has finished a few hours later than Jedi). As the result, I have finished first, compensated time, in TCF3 class - just ahead of a good friend (and a great sailor) Hans-Peter on his Melges 24. What a joy!
The boat I sailed - J/80 "Jedi" - is great. Very strong, stable and still reasonably easy to handle single-handed and sail fast. Very grateful to my sailing club, Yachting Club CERN, for the opportunity to take her for this unforgettable race!
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